Improved method of enabling moving railroad-trains to telegraph their own passings at



3 Sheets-Sheet I.

E. 0. POHL.

Railway Alarm.

Patented Jan. 11, 1859.

3 Sheets-Sheet 2. E-

POHL.

Railway Alarm No. 22,610. Patented Jan. 11, 1859.

3 Sheets-Sheet 3. E. 0. POHL.

Railway Alarm.

Patented Jan 11, 1859.

725 hwm'ar.

Tfiai 322%. r.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ERNST OTTO POHL, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVED'METHOD 0F ENABLING MOVING RAlLROAD-TRAINS T0 TELEGRAPH THEIROWN PASSINGS AT CERTAIN STATIONS.

Specification forming part of, Letters Patent No. 22,610, dated January11, 1559.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ERNST O'rro PonL, of the city of Philadelphia andState of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Self- ActingElectro-Magnetic Railway Alarm -'Ielegraph; and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full and exact description of the same, referencebeing bad to the annexed drawings, making a part of this specification,in which- Figure I is a View of the alarm apparatus used at crossings,&c., on railroads. Fig. II is a view of the apparatus used at curves,tunnels, &c. Fig. III is a view of a clock placed in the chief station,with a. telegraphic wire drawn through its pendul'um. Fig. IV is a viewof the telegraph along the line of the road, showing the manner in whichthe alarm apparatus at the crossings, &c., are operated by passingtrains. Fig. V is a sectional view of a railway-car, showing theposition of the electromagnetic battery and alarm apparatus carriedtherein, and a post supporting and protecting a metallic plate whichforms the connection with the telegraph-wire and with the apparatusillustrated in Figs. I, II, and IX.

Fig. VI is a top view of a tunnel with the stationary touching-plates,and through them the apparatus illustrated in Fig. II, being operatedby-a passing locomotive; Fig. VII is a view of the connecting apparatusillustrated indetail at Fig. IX arranged at a switch. Fig. VIII is aview of the same at a draw-bridge. Fig. IX is a detail view hereinafterexplained; and Fig. X is a side view of a ratchet-wheel, shown in frontview at 0, Fig. I.

The object of my invention is to enable the operatives and employee atthe main and other stations on the road and on moving trains to know thewhereabouts of trains on the road between certain points, whether thesame be approaching any station or train or going away from it, toapprizc the engineers, &c., of trains of the situation and condition ofeach tunnel, bridge, switch, or draw, by an electromagnetic apparatusacting reliably of itself, without the necessity of humaninterventiom-and to provide for the passengers of each train acertainmeans of lrnowin g their position on the route, so that they may be putto no inconvenience by the indistinct announcements of stations, orthrough ignorance of the language or other obvious causes. The mode inwhich I propose to secure these ends I will proceed to describe, asfollows:

My invention is arranged and operates as follows: The length of the roadbeing supplied with a telegraphic wire, as shown in Fig. IV,

of the drawings, this wire has-its end drawn through the pendulum of aclock at the main station, and the circuit of the battery at thisstation is connected and disconnected by the movement of the pendulum ofthis clock. The pendulum has at a a hinge. b is the battery, and c thepoint at which the electric current is connected and disconnected.

Each train carries an electric battery, d, Fig. V, the negative pole ofwhich is conducted through the electro-magnets in the different alarmapparatus placed in each of the cars of the train, and finally into theearth. The current of the other pole is conducted through theelectro-magnet e, and thence into the metallic-wire broom f.

At each and every crossing, an, of the road an alarm apparatus isplaced, such as is repre- 'sented by Fig. I in the drawings, and on bothsides of this alarm apparatus, and at any desired distance therefrom,are placed metallic plates 9 and g g, Fig. IV, and g, Fig.V. Theseplates are protected from rain, snow, 850., in the manner shown at g,Fig. V. 'Ihese metallic plates are connected by means of thetelegraph-wire with the electro-magneth h in the alarm apparatusshown inFig. I, whose positive pole is divided at iinto two parts and con nectedwith the said wires. The magnetic pole 70, Fig. I, passes into theearth. Therefore at the moment the metallic-wire broom of the positivepole of the battery on the train touches the metallic plate at g, asshown at Fig. V in the drawings, the electric current of the battery onthe train passes through the electro magnet h h, Fig. I, and thence intothe earth, and closes the circuit, and the lever Z Z, Fig. I, will beattracted by the electro-magnet h h. Said electro-magnet attracts thelever Z Z, which has two inclined pawls, m m, thereto, one of whichconnects itself with a pin in the ratchetwheel 0, Fig. I, and causes thelatter to turn one tooth. At the moment the wire broom f, Fig. V, haspassed the first metallic plate, gg, Fig. IV, its electric chain orcurrent, as above described, is disconnected, and the attractive powerof the electro-magnet it his rendered in operative on the lever l l, andthe spring a will draw the lever Z-l'into its former position, and bythis means the other inclined pawl connects itself with a pin on theopposite side of the ratchet-wheel o in such a manner as to cause it toturn another tooth. This ratchet-wheel 0 (see side view, Fig. X) hasalternately around the periphery thereof long and short pins, setparallel with the axis of the wheel. pins alone come in contact with thespring 1), Fig. I, which changes the current of the main electric wire.Whenever there is no train be tween the touchingplates .g and g 9, Fig.IV, on either side of the crossing, the spring pis disconnected from thetouching-point q, (see dot ted line,Fig. 1,) and the main electriccurrent (see r-r, Fig. I) takes its course through the spring 10, theratchetwheel 0, catch t, &c. On a trains arrival at any touching-platethe currcn t of the battery on thetrain passes through the broom f andthe touching-plate at g into the electro-magnet it h, which willtherefore at tract the lever t 1', whose inclined pawls cause .;theratchet-wheel jo to turn, as already described, and thus the pin in theratchet wheel 0, which obstructed the spring p,Fig. l, per mits thespring p to resume its natural position and to connect the main currentatthe point (1. The train having passed the touching-plate y g,- Fig.IV, the main electric cur rent takes its course through i" 'r and thespring 12, Fig. I, when the circuit is made by the brush f, Fig. V,touching the touchingplate 9; but the spring 9 having now no con nectionwith the ratchetwheel 0, the main electric current pursues its coursethrough the wire s s, electro-magnet u at, Fig. I, the. As the pendulumc of the clock, Fig. III, disconnects and reconnccts the main electriccurrent the electro-magnet u u, Fig. I, will at the same timealternatclyattract and release the lever 41 c, Fig. I, which, by means of ahammer'or otherwise, will act on abell or other alarm ap paratus duringthe entire period of time in which the train is moving between the twome tallic plates 9 and g g, (illustrated at Fig. IV.) A spring, as, Fig.I,-draws the lever 12 o from the electro-magnet u u whenever the mainelectric current is disconnected at the point 0, Fig. III. The momentcontactis had with the second metallic plate, g, Fig. IV, on the arrivalof the train from the first plate, 9 g, the electro magnet h h, Fig. I,again attracts thclever ll, the inclined pawls again operate on the pinsin the ratchet-wheel, causing the latter to turn. The spring 1), Fig. I,follows the motion of the ratchet-wheel o from the'point q, and the maincurrent now again takes its direct course through the wire i r, springp, ratchet-wheel 0, catch it, &c., (in Fig. 1,) and the alarm ceases.

The space to which the lever Z1 is confined is designated at z, and alsoby dotted lines in Fig. I. At each and every contact of the metallicwire broom f, Fig. V, with any of the metallic touching-plates g, Fig.V, the current of the battery on the train is connected. llhe electro-The long magnet c, Fig. V, on the train attracts the lever g. By meansof its hook or catch 0d this lever draws the ratchet-wheel d e (one faceof which is used as a noting-plate or dial) one tooth'backward, and onthis dial-plate are indicated the different stations, crossings,tunnels, draw-bridges, 850. The book or catch 0 ,d serves as anindicatorto the dial-plate onthe ratchet-wheel, and thus the engineer will be informed of the whereabouts of the train he is rnnning,of the condition ofthe switches, drawhridges, &c.', which he is approaching, and also ofthe approach of the trains from the opposite direction, as shownhereinafter. A similar apparatus placed in each passengencar will alsoindicate to the passengers the whereabouts of the train and of thevarious points on the railway.

Fig. II, the apparatus for curves, tunnels, 8%., has also twoclectro-magnets, AA and B B, the negative poles I) of which passinth-the earth, the positive poles diverging at E and F in oppositedirections to their respective me tallic plates. Themain electric wire GG, Fig.

VI, does notpass through this apparatus, but

it passes by on theside of it. Both of the electro-magnets in Fig. 11are operated by the batterics on. the trains in the same manner as isthe apparatus shown at h h, Fig. I, andpreviously described. The wires,however, take an opposite course to those of the first-describedapparatus, as shown in the drawings. Fig. VI is an illustration of themanner in which this apparatus is operated by passing trains, A beingthe railroad-train, l3 thetrain coming toward train A, and eff, fg, g71., he being metallic touching-plates identical in construction withthat shown at g, Fig. 7', the electro-magnet A A, Fig. If, beingconnected with the metallic plates. e f and'fg, Fig. VI, and theelectro-magnet B B, Fig. II, with the plates g h and h t, Fig. VI. InFig. VI of the drawings the train A is represented as having passed themetallic platec f. Consequently the metallic-wire broom (illustratedatf, Fig. V) attached to the positive pole of its battery has touched theplate 0 f, and its electric current has passed into the apparatus markedFig. II attic. Thecurre'ntproceedsfrom'ik through thespring k 70 intothe electro-maguetA A, and thence into the earth, closing the electriccurrent. Influenced by the current, the elcctro-magnct A A new attractsthe lever is I, which has two inclined pawls or planes, Zm lm, oneofwhich connects itself with the pins of the ratchet-wheelY, (whichratchet-wheelY-isidentical in construction with the one at 0,. Fig. I,and in Fig. X,) and causes wheel Y to turn one tooth. At the moment thewire-broom pole of the battery on. the train in Fig. V1 (marked A) haspassed its teaching plate 6 f its electric current is disconnected andthe attractive power of the electro-mag net A A, Fig. II, is renderedinoperative on the lever 70 Z, and the'spring m n will now draw thelever is i into its former position. By this means the other inclinedpawl, I'm, of the-lever k I will, by pushing a pin on the opposite side,cause the ratchet-wheel Y to turn another tooth. By the movement of theratchet-wheel the spring a o is forced from its connectingpoint 0 p bymeans of a pin on the ratchet wheel. Suppose the train B, Fig. VI, nowarrives at the touching-plate h t and touches it with the wire broomprovided on its positive pole. Then the electric current of its batterywould enter the apparatus, Fig. II, at p q, thence up to n 0; but itwould be unable to pass from n o to o p, as the connection would havebeen broken already by the train As sending its electric current andoperating the electro-magnet A A, &c., Fig. II, in the manner alreadydescribed. The same action would take place in reverse order in case ofthe train B arriving first at its metallic touching-plate h i, Fig.VI,as in that case the electric current of the battery on said train wouldhave proceeded into the electro-magnet B B, Fig. II, and have cut offthe electric current of train A at the points (1 r and k it.

It will be perceived that the train arriving lastat any one of thetouching-plates will, in consequence of the other train having antici-vpated it by arriving first at its touching-plate. receive no answer fromthe alarm upon touching the touching-plate on it, as the hell or otheralarm apparatus on the train will give no alarm. Thus the engineer isinformed that the train coming in an opposite direction is alreadybetween him and the opposite touchingplate and has disconnected theelectric current, and he is thus enabled to switch ofi' or reverse hisengine and avoid the collision which would otherwise ensue. Train A,Fig. VI, passing on and arriving at the second touching-plate, f g,connects the positive pole of its battery y therewith, and by means ofthe electro-maguet A A, Fig. I], again attracts the lever k l, the pawlof which, I m, comesin contact with a pin of the ratchet-wheel Y,causing the latter to turn one tooth. At the moment the positivepole(the wire broom) of the train As battery has passed the metallictouching-plate f g the spring m it draws the lever k l into its formerposition, the inclined pawl l m of which lever is l connects itself withthe opposite pin on the ratchet-wheel and causes the latter to turnanother tooth. By the movement of the ratchet-wheel the spring n 0 willslip from the pin on the. latter (which obstructed it) and unite withthe touching-point 0 10,

thus reuniting the electric current for the passage of the train B andsubsequent use. 7

At draw-bridges and switches are placed boxes, of the position andinternal construe tion of which E, Figs. VII and VIII, and the detailview or Fig. IX are sketches. These boxes contain a lever, I, and aspring, k, which prevent ,the connection of the one end of the lever I,Fig. IX, with the electric wire L when ever the draw-bridge is notclosed or the switch in its proper position for travel.

The telegraph-wire divides at ointo two parts, and is connected with thetouching-plates an, placed at any desired distanceon thesides thereof.The draw-bridge or switch has on the side thereof a lock, which willclose with the rails. In placing the draw-bridge or switch in a properposition for travel a part of it will force back one end of the lever atM, Fig. IX, and the other end thereof touches or unites with thetelegraph-wire at L, Fig. IX, and closes the circuit or electric currentof the battery of the train approaching with the earth. When the latterhas arrived from either direction at either of the touching-plates n,Figs. VII and VIII, the bell or alarm apparatus on the train will givenotice and guarantee the safety of prooeeding with the train. 011 thecontrary, if the switch or draw-bridge is not in its proper position,the electric current will be disconnected at the lever I and theelectric wire L, as heretofore described. Consequently thealarm-apparatns on the train will not sound the alarm, and the engineerwill be thus notified of the disarrangemeut of the draw-bridge orswitch, and will understand that he is not to proceed.

I confine my claim to the particular apparatus described in thisspecification and illustrated in the accompanying drawings; and

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

The use of a self-acting electromagnetic railway alarm-telegraph, actingreliably of itself without the necessity of human intervention, andarranged and operating in the manner and for the purposes substantiallyas above described.

ERNST OTTO POHL.

Witnesses:

U. W. E. Home, On. WEYHING, I. POHL.

